Talking about the asylum process can be tough. Entrenched political scapegoating and the divisive nature of culture wars means the truth is often twisted or lost entirely.
Talking about it is tough, but it is also vital. If we are to build a fairer, kinder asylum system, we the quiet majority need to break the silence and speak up.
To help you with these courageous conversations, we’re here to set the record straight…
They do. According to the UNHCR around 70% of displaced people stay in a country neighboring the one they’ve fled. And 76% stay in countries that are poorer than the United Kingdom. A minority of people travel further, and that’s usually because they have family in a specific country, or they speak the language, or because they have Colonial links or ties.
People are forced into crossing borders irregularly because they’re unable to access visas. Without a visa, no aircraft, international train or ferry are able to allow you to board. If any travel operator permits someone without a visa to travel they will have a Carrier Fine imposed.
The UK imposes visa restrictions on countries where there is any instability or risk that someone may need to travel to the UK to claim asylum. So essentially people who need asylum are locked out of visas forcing them to take dangerous crossings to reach safety, family and the chance to rebuild.
No this is not true. First off, people traveling to the UK to claim asylum aren’t allowed to work or claim benefits. They’re only entitled to asylum support which, if you’re housed within the community, is £49.18 a week – this must cover all food, transport, hygiene items, phone data and clothing. If you’re housed in a hotel, barracks or the barge, food is provided and asylum support is just £8.86 a week. This is a tiny amount of money and certainly not enough to justify the label of ‘economic migrant’.
If you don’t claim asylum you aren’t eligible to work and can’t claim asylum support or any form of financial support from the state – this is known as No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).
Secondly, the vast majority of people claiming asylum go on to be recognised as a refugee by the government – 67% of all initial decisions at December 2023. Many initial refusals will go on to be awarded refugee status on appeal.
Whilst people wait for a decision on their asylum claim, they are not eligible for benefits and they’re not allowed to work. As people are prevented from supporting themselves, the state has a duty to accommodate them. Because the government has taken so long to process these asylum claims, the accommodation in the asylum system has become overwhelmed and so they’ve started to use hotels, barracks and the barge.
The hotels used are procured by the private sector and are deregulated when used as asylum accommodation – this means that if the hotel was a 3 or 4 star hotel, this no longer applies to asylum seekers. The company will often strip the rooms of items such as TVs and put bunk beds in so that they can put as many people as possible. They’re cramped environments that people already traumatized by war or torture often find extremely difficult to survive.
There is enough accommodation without the need for hotels or barracks already in the asylum system if the government makes decisions within the six months it says it will. The current arrangements to accommodate asylum seekers are hugely expensive and damaging to the people placed in those environments.
Refugees want to work, but most people in the asylum system are banned from working whilst their claim is assessed. This often takes years and significantly damages people’s health, mental health and employment prospects by de-skilling them and forcing them into years of worklessness and poverty. During that time they have very little access to English Language Learning Support which also impacts their ability to progress positively into employment following the asylum process.
The Lift the Ban campaign has been calling on the law to change, allowing people in the asylum system to work. They estimate that the treasury would earn £333 million per year through doing this. It would also significantly improve the long term employment outcomes for refugees following the asylum process.
Most people seeking asylum are banned from working until their asylum claim has been assessed. We think this needs to change. The UK has significant workforce gaps where employers struggle to fill vacancies, with between 12% and 17% of businesses reporting workforce shortages. Allowing people seeking asylum to work would mean vital jobs would be filled, the treasury would earn approx £333 million per year, and people would be able to fully support themselves rather than being housed in substandard asylum accommodation force to survive on minimal asylum support.
It’s incorrect to say that women and children don’t claim asylum. In 2023, 23,457 women claimed asylum in the UK. The main reason that there are more men claiming asylum than women and children is because of how difficult and dangerous the journey is. Many families will send a male to make the dangerous journey anticipating that they’ll be able to apply to have their family join them when they finally achieve status. Sadly this process often takes years leaving families separated for prolonged periods of time.
No, the UK takes far fewer refugees and asylum seekers than most other comparable countries. In 2022, the UK 18,600 asylum applications, comparatively Germany received 243,800, France 156,500 and Sweden 117,900.
Britain is one of the only countries that bans people seeking asylum from working, places them in dangerous barges and barracks, and allows for Indefinite Immigration Detention, including the indefinite detention of children. We’re geographically the hardest country to get to, and have one of the hardest visas to access. We have one of the longest processing times in Europe despite having lower numbers than comparable countries. Nothing about claiming asylum in the UK is ‘soft’.
People in the asylum system aren’t eligible for social housing. Once someone’s asylum claim has been heard and they are given refugee status, they do become eligible for social housing, but they do not get any priority. Social housing is allocated based on priority needs which may be based on child dependents, disabilities or healthcare needs. Refugee status does not qualify as a ‘priority need’.
There isn’t enough social housing. If we had a system of taxation that spent money on social housing for everyone rather than waste millions of pounds on a hugely expensive, damaging and ineffectual asylum system everyone would benefit.
The truth is vitally important. But facts alone won’t change people’s minds. Instead we need to change the story totally.
Speak up for Sanctuary is a programme designed by City of Sanctuary UK to support people to change the story, speak from the heart and help supercharge efforts to build welcoming and compassionate communities. This programme consists of a 1.5 hour webinar and a handbook jam-packed with information, resources and exercises.
Complete the programme in your own time using the YouTube video and the handbook or check our events page or sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date with the next live online training session.